12 Months ago

A glass bottle shattered in anger on the wall, surprising the small blonde girl asleep on the floor. "Lazy slut", the towering older man muttered. He sneered down at her, "Like mother, like daughter- too lazy to know their fucking place in the house." With panic infusing her thoughts at the unexpected attack, Emiko ran to the kitchen for a brush, hoping it would be the last of her father's anger. She thought she had done everything right, that this time she had finally done enough to get him off her back. She knew she was wrong though. She always was.

He followed her through to the kitchen and roared as he stepped into the forgotten shards of broken glass on the floor, grabbing his foot in pain. As Emiko ran back with a brush and dustpan, her father swung round and grabbed her by the throat- slamming her hard against the wall. Tears welled in her eyes as he squeezed hard enough to leave her struggling for breath, her face going red with lack of oxygen. Emiko felt the pain of past injuries resurfacing as new bruises gathered upon the bruises of days past. "Stupid slut" her father snarled in her face, his cheeks purpling in anger. "You thought you could apply to that blasted school without telling me? And you think you could do what- just disappear off into the sunset? Never going to happen princess- you are mine Emiko, my family, my property. And I'm never going to let you go." The foul stream of air pouring from her father's mouth hit Emiko hard in the face along with the knowledge that the idea escaping was a futile prospect. The pressure around her neck lessened as he left and she dropped to the floor hard, gasping in pain, tears running down her cheeks. The swollen shadow of a handprint wrapped around her neck; an imprint left for weeks to come.

Emiko hesitantly picked herself up off the floor, carefully avoiding the glass buried into the surface. Her father had settled on the living room sofa in front of the television- probably in expectation of a long evening drinking beer and watching football. With any luck he'd be passed out in an hour or so, and she could trust his drunken stupor to keep him quiet for the evening while she trained up on the rooftops. Emiko crept along the corridor towards the kitchen table. She saw the white envelope on the table already opened and read. With shaking hands, she picked it up and read the first line.

Dear Miss Tanaka,

We are delighted to inform you that following your entrance examination, your application to study upon the UA Hero Course has been successful...

12 Months later

"Hey Emiko" Kirishima yelled across the training hall, "Don't just stand there- destroy him!".

Emiko smiled awkwardly at Kaminari, her hands disappearing into black smoke as he powered up his chargebolt, the crackles of electricity reaching out to her. Kaminari leapt towards her across the rocky ground with a manically cheerful grin, but he was already too late. Emiko had melted into the darkness, allowing the shadows to transport her away. She reappeared with an evil smile behind him, as Kaminari spun back around to face her, his grin slipping as he realised that she wasn't the easy prey he had hoped for. "No fair!" Kaminari whined as his chargebolt flew in the wrong direction, into the crowd of watching Class 1-A students. Emiko stepped into the shadows once more, blonde hair flicking around her face, this time materialising on top of the unsuspecting boy.

"A tactical manoeuvre from Miss Tanaka, utilising her shadows to reappear at will. A logical deception designed to take a win quickly and easily". Aizawa spoke to the rest of the class, who had only just recovered from ducking at Kaminari's chargebolt. The top of Mina's fluffy hair smoked slightly as she winced in annoyance.

Kirishima grabbed Emiko's arm as the class started to walk back towards the showers.

"Hey man, that was awesome! Way to ramp up the skills on this one- Kami didn't stand a chance!". Emiko giggled awkwardly, her hand going to fiddle with her hair.

"Yeah my quirk precision is slowly getting there! And I'm getting much better at moving the shadows at speed. I just hope that by next year I can match up with the speed and stamina of the others!"

"Nahh", Kirishima laughed, "You're already up there with the top of the class on your quirk use- you just need to trust yourself!".

As they split off towards the shower rooms, Emiko looked around in happiness. A few months into the school year and she belonged. A year ago, she never could have imagined that her dreams of escape from a life of mundanity could become a reality, that her father would no longer be free to beat her at will.

The walk home was fairly simple. A short walk into the city, and the basement of a dilapidated tower block was all hers. Walls cracked and peeling, a permanent smell of must and a sagging ceiling marked the flat as what it was- a mess. But Emiko loved it. It was plain and simple, containing only the bare essentials for living- and little furniture or luxuries. Her first taste of freedom at 15 years old, it had taken her the whole 9 months since gaining her acceptance letter to UA to save the deposit for it. Having left her father at home, she had gained her independence and hope lit up her icy blue eyes once more. Breathing in the stale air of the flat, Emiko beamed. Home she thought.